Woman pushed to ground

Police are looking for a man who forced a woman to the ground
in Dunedin's Town Belt yesterday morning in what they believe
was a sexually motivated attack.

Senior Sergeant Steve Aitken said the woman had parked her
car on Canongate, near Serpentine Ave, and was walking up a
track towards Maori Rd and Jubilee Park about 9.30am when she
noticed a man walking towards her.

The man continued past her, but a few minutes later she
walked back down and saw the man walking back towards her.

"He then grabbed her and pushed her to the ground and held
her there for a short time before releasing her," Snr Sgt
Aitken said.

The woman ran off in the direction of Canongate and, as she
telephoned police, saw the offender running back up the track
towards Maori Rd.

The woman, who was helping police, was not injured but was
left shaken, he said.

People were in the area at the time of the attack and anyone
with information was asked to contact Detective Senior
Sergeant Kallum Croudis on (03) 471-4800.

Police were investigating if the attack was related to an
incident in which a man fitting a similar description
approached two 14-year-old girls in Pitt St about 3pm on
Sunday and asked them to enter a white van, which had a gold
and brown strip along the bottom edge.

The girls declined and the man drove off while watching them
in the vehicle's rear view mirror.